Pitt fired Kevin Stallings this week after a brutal two-year stint that included a winless record in Atlantic Coast Conference play this season.

It couldn't be much worse. Only in a few cases, it has been. Sporting News looked at some of the worst coaching hires in the expanded bracket era. It could be a bad fit at a blue-blood, a coach set up to fail or an off-the-wall hire that everybody knew just wouldn't pan out. Dave Bliss' stint at Baylor (1999-2003) is not on this list because the circumstances around his 10-year show-cause penalty are an outlier. Nobody on this list deserves to be in the same sentence.

The rest of these coaches, however, either lost games or committed NCAA infractions. Sometimes, they lost games and committed infractions. Whatever the case, it just didn't fit. Sporting News looks at the worst hires of the expanded bracket era.

1. Isiah Thomas, FIU (2009-12)

Record: 26-65

Doomed from the start: Despite no collegiate coaching experience, Thomas took the job with FIU in 2009-10. In 2010, Thomas was briefly hired by the New York Knicks as a consultant while coaching at FIU, a move that was later voided.

That didn't work: FIU fired Thomas after three seasons in which the program never won more than 11 games in a single season.

2. Kelvin Sampson, Indiana (2006-08)

Record: 43-15

Doomed from the start: Sampson followed Mike Davis at Indiana and took over a program coming off a 19-12 season that still wasn't totally past the Bob Knight era. Sampson had 11 tournament appearances in 12 seasons at Oklahoma before arriving at Bloomington.

That didn't work: Perhaps the pressure to win big hit home. Sampson resigned during the 2008 season after a scandal involving recruiting violations that resulted in a five-year show cause penalty. He's re-invented his career at Houston, which is in line to make the NCAA tournament this season.

3. Billy Gillispie, Kentucky (2007-09)

Record: 40-27

Doomed from the start: Gillispie made the jump from Texas AM to Kentucky after just three seasons and just one Sweet 16 appearance and followed national championship coaches Tubby Smith and Rick Pitino.

That didn't work: Cal forfeited the entire 1994-95 season and its 1996 tournament appearance as a result of a scandal involving Jelani Gardner, who Bozeman admitted paying $30,000. Bozeman served an eight-year ban before taking the job at Morgan State in 2006.

5. Mike Rice Jr., Rutgers (2010-13)

Record: 44-51

Doomed from the start: Rutgers hired Rice Jr. after he took Robert Morris to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances, but the coach was suspended in 2012 after the school's athletic director obtained video of Rice Jr. verbally abusing players, using homophobic slurs and throwing basketballs at players.

6. Clyde Drexler, Houston (2008-10)

Record: 19-39

Doomed from the start: Drexler jumped straight out of retirement with the Houston Rockets in 1997-98 into coaching with his alma mater Houston, a move that came despite no previous coaching experience.

That didn't work: This didn't last long. Drexler led the Cougars to a 7-25 record in Conference-USA play. Drexler resigned after just two seasons. We'll give Drexler a pass for trying to help his alma mater, but this clearly just wasn't going to work.

That didn't work: Stallings jawed with players and fans, and it just didn't work. The Panthers finished 0-18 in the ACC in Stallings' second season, which made it that much easier to make a change.

8. Bob Wade, Maryland (1986-89)

Record: 36-50

Doomed from the start: Wade replaced Lefty Driesell in the aftermath of Len Bias' death, and had to deal with several player suspensions right off the bat. Wade made the jump from Dunbar High School to the ACC, and the jump wasn't easy.

That didn't work: Maryland didn't win a game in ACC play in Wade's first season before reaching the second round of the NCAA tournament in his second season. A 1-13 record in ACC play in Year 3 and a recruiting scandal marked the end of the Wade era.

9. Jeff Bzdelik, Wake Forest (2010-14)

Record: 51-76

Doomed from the start: Wake Forest hired Bzdelik, who in seven seasons over three previous stops at UMBC, Air Force and Colorado had two winning seasons and one winning season, both with the Falcons. He inherited a Demon Deacons' team coming of back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances.

That didn't work: The Demon Deacons finished 17-16 in Bzdelik's fourth season, the only winning record in that four-year stretch. Wake Forest had a 17-51 record in league play under Bzdelik.

10. Craig Esherick, Georgetown (1998-2004)

Record: 103-74

Doomed from the start: Esherick had the unenviable task of replacing John Thompson Jr, and the longtime Georgetown assistant struggled to meet those expectations.

That didn't work: The record is inflated by weak nonconference scheduling. Esherick compiled a 41-53 record in Big East play and the Hoyas reached the tournament one time in that six-year stretch.